Football: CSU faces ultimate challenge at No. 1 Alabama

Rams anxious to play No. 1 Crimson Tide

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- From the outside, Colorado State has little to lose and much to gain, especially in light of the $1.5 million paycheck the Rams are receiving for Saturday's game at Alabama.

But the Rams coach just doesn't see the situation that way. Not entirely, at least.

"We've got a lot to lose. We can lose another game," said McElwain, his team 1-2 entering the contest with the No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide, the two-time defending national champions. "At the same time, let's go measure ourselves, and then let's evaluate like we do every week on Monday when we watch video and go from there."

Colorado State has played a game of this magnitude before. In 2004, the Rams traveled to Los Angeles to play Southern California, which was ranked No. 1 at the time and had earned part of the national championship pie in 2003. The tale of the tape: USC 49, CSU 0.

True to the nature of any competitor, the Rams will concede nothing heading in. Rather, they are taking the approach that in playing the best, they need to be at their best.

"That's everybody's goal," quarterback Garrett Grayson said. "Obviously we want to go in there and win, but I think if we go in there and play our best game and we lose the game and we play the absolute best we can do, people will be happy. They're the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. We're not putting them on any pedestal. We're going in there trying to win, shock the world."

With a win, the Rams would. No.

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1 teams have been beaten before, and they have been toppled by unranked teams. Stanford did it to USC back in 2007. And according to reports, Colorado State will get a one-quarter break from dynamic Alabama running back T.J. Yeldon.

Though the school hasn't confirmed it, sources have told multiple Alabama outlets he will sit for the first quarter after earning coach Nick Saban's ire for gestures he made after scoring a touchdown in the win over Texas A&M.

"Every week we're trying to win," cornerback DeAndre Elliott said. "That's the goal, ultimately, is to try to get a win no matter who we play."

This one, they admit, will be a little tougher than Cal Poly. The teams are not identical, but with McElwain's background at Alabama, there are similarities in the things the two teams do. The difference has been in execution, and the Rams have not hit the point of being polished.

Still, every little bit helps, and in practice, recognition has come quicker, and so too has reaction time.

"At least you get a better look than maybe you're going to get from somebody holding a card," McElwain said. "And a little more tempo. The tempo that's about to hit them is going to be pretty fast."

This is the first of two scheduled meetings between the two schools. As McElwain pointed out earlier in the week, this game will give them a gauge, the next one (not scheduled yet) should tell them how much progress they have made.

But this first time around, the Rams insist they won't be scared or intimidated. At the end of the day, win or lose, they'll understand exactly what it takes to play at that level.

Maybe even surprise some folks.

"It's the No. 1 team in the nation, so you have to play well," center Weston Richburg said. "You have to play well enough to beat them. I think that's as easy as it gets."